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Stews

Gloria’s version of Beef Stew

This recipe was sent in by Gloria L. We all make stew and we have our own methods. It is great to learn from someone else regarding how she makes her stew. A good tip below will be great for mummy’s with fussy eaters. She also has handy tips on what to do with left over boiled pepper. I do this too, so it made me smile to see myself in someone else’s kitchen. Lol

Today’s offering is beef stew for my 10-year-old son.  I say this because the meat I have chosen to use is pre-cut into bite size pieces, which suit my boy down to the ground because he is such a carnivore!  He loves the fact that every mouthful is accompanied by small pieces of beef.  Heaven for a small child eh?  Both my husband and I secretly like it too.  The only difference is that I have to turn down the heat  a little when the little man is involved although he is fast catching up in the heat stakes. The first step I take is to place the diced pieces of beef in a pan with some diced onions, thyme, curry powder and 3 maggi cubes, a teaspoon of dried pepper and a teaspoon of my ‘magic’ seasoning (Jumbo – chicken flavour).  My daughter calls it magic as she is a novice to cooking and has really only just got interested as she is about to set off for Uni and I’ve been frantically trying to get to her at least learn how to make a few staples so she can eat ‘proper’ food there!

2

Like you, I initially steam the meat as this produces a richer more intensively flavoured stock.  If it looks like it needs it, I add a small amount of water to the cooking beef.  I let this simmer on a medium heat, and depending on the amount of beef you are using, it should be cooked in 20-30 minutes. Once the meat is cooked, I transfer it using a slotted spoon to a foil lined tray which I place in the grill to brown the meat, turning over once one side is browned, and repeat the process.  This is to substitute frying as I am not keen on doing this.  I feel you get the same results and this is much healthier for you, lol!

8

 So, I use the following to make what I call the base of the stew:

 ·         3 x cans peeled plum tomatoes

·         1 romero sweet pepper (used to substitute tatashe as I live in the suburbs and we can’t get this)

·         3 x scotch bonnet peppers

·         1 medium-sized onion

I blend all the above ingredients and pour into a medium-sized pan and leave to boil until completely reduced and all the water has been absorbed.

10

Some people see this as a painstaking step but I believe this is makes the difference between an amazeballs stew and a just run of the mill stew.  This process does take some time and patience.  The trick is to have it on a slow simmer – a la Guy Fieri  – low and slow.  The result is a rich, thick sauce which forms the base of many other dishes (more of that later).

The next step is to make the stew.

You will need

2 cooking spoons of vegetable oil – or whatever oil you cook with

Half an onion thinly sliced

A pinch of thyme

A teaspoon of curry powder

2 tablespoons of Jumbo seasoning as referred to above

1 tablespoon of tomato puree

I put the oil into a pan and heat up.  I check if the oil is hot enough by putting one of the slices of onion in the oil.

11

If the onion starts to sizzle, I add the rest of the sliced onions.  I let the onions fry for a couple of minutes until the onions turn translucent. At this point I add the pinch of thyme and curry powder and let these cook out for just a couple of minutes.

9

I then add in the pre-prepared stew base to the mixture of onions and spices.  At this stage I add in the tomato puree and the Jumbo.

7[1]

Stir the mixture and again leave it to cook out again for some minutes.  The beauty of having pre-boiled the pepper, onion and tomato mixture is that ordinarily, if you were just adding the blended pepper mix now, it would take ages, and involve a lot of splashing all over your cooker, for the mixture to get to the reduced stage it needs to be to make the stew really intensely flavoured and rich.  As the pepper mixture is already cooked, I just let it all simmer for about 5 minutes for all the flavours to amalgamate.

6[1]

Next, I add in the meat (which I have previously grilled) and stir the stew together. Leave to simmer so the meat absorbs the flavours of the stew.

2

Serve with your choice of rice, yam or whatever you prefer.  My son has a huge pile of the stew and about 3 tablespoons of rice as he is all about the protein!

As I wrote earlier, the ‘stew base’ does come in handy for other things too. For example, my daughter does not ever eat beef, however is mad about eggs and eggy stew.  So this morning, once I had finished boiling the pepper mix, I quickly sliced some onions and fried them in a little oil. I added in some mixed in some mixed herbs, curry powder and the ever trusty jumbo.  Gave all these a light fry and added in a cooking spoonful of the stew base. I added in about a 3rd of a can of corned beef (sneakily making her eat beef, lol) and cooked for a couple of minutes.  I added to lightly beaten eggs, et voila!! Eggy stew ready for one happy girl. See photo of it half demolished).

3

I still had half the boiled pepper mixture and the stock from cooking the beef.  I put each one in a plastic tub, which I have labelled and dated, ready for the freezer. 5

4

Next time I need to cook jollof rice I have a nice stock to use.  Also I can cook stew in a rush, once I remember to take the tub out of the freezer the night before.  I sometimes use the same base and make a stew using palm oil instead of vegetable oil, adding in some ground crayfish.  It gives it an amazingly different taste. This stew base can also be used for Efo Riro

Love and happy cooking!

Thanks Gloria, that stew looks absolutely delicious, it is calling for plain boiled rice or yam. Regards to your son, he truly is a lucky boy. If you liked this recipe, and you wish to send me some of yours too, please do. Send to [email protected]


16 Comments

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FILED UNDER: Stews
TAGGED WITH: eggy stew, Nigerian Stew, stew
Dooney

About Dooney

Dooney is the blogger, recipe developer and photographer for Dooney's Kitchen. I spend my days trying to figure out creative ways to redefine Nigerian food, either by creating a new dish itself using ingredients in ways that have never been used before, or changing the approach to Nigerian cooking using kitchen gadgets.

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Comments

  1. Avatarkuch says

    December 17, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    Hi Dunni. did Gloria use any of the stock at all in the stew or the oil was just a base of her stew.

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      December 17, 2013 at 1:46 pm

      Yes she did. If you go back to her recipe, you will see where she wrote that she used stew

      Reply
  2. Avatarkc says

    December 27, 2013 at 4:53 am

    Hi,
    I have been eyeing pepper at the grocery shop sweet mini peppers and I was wondering if you have tried it in stew

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      December 28, 2013 at 12:18 am

      I actually haven’t. It is the thin long red chills that I have used in stew before

      Reply
  3. AvatarLaide says

    January 16, 2014 at 10:53 pm

    Hello Dunni, wonderful site with wonderful recipes!! Thanks so much for taking the time out to post all of these recipes..I am currently just finishing up “Gloria’s version of beef stew” and it is DELICIOUS! I normally don’t “pre-boil” my stew mix but I did today and it tastes GREAT!!! Only thing is the stew mixture that usually fills up my pot was about 1/3rd of the pot due to “pre-boiling” technique which dries out all the water..I wish I knew in advance, I would have doubled the quantity of bell pepper, onions, and tomatoes…None the less I LOVE IT!!!

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      January 17, 2014 at 1:44 pm

      Aaaaaw, lovely to read. Well done

      Reply
  4. AvatarBridget says

    June 10, 2014 at 2:17 pm

    i will definitly try this. i think where i do get it wrong is frying the tomato puree for a long time. yes i normally dry my tomato and pepper after grinding but at the end of it all, i’ll always end up with a slappy stew. i hope this gloria methos will help. thnk u dooneyrooney

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      June 11, 2014 at 8:40 pm

      am sure it will. This recipe is amazing

      Reply
  5. AvatarTee says

    July 12, 2014 at 12:08 pm

    Hi Dunni..thanks for sharing Gloria’s recipe. I would like to try this today. Question though, at what stage did she add the beef stock? I did not see this in the recipe. Thanks dear!

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      July 14, 2014 at 2:55 pm

      Hi tee, sorry for the late reply. I take a break from the blog on some weekends to focus on other things. She added the beef stock after frying the pepper

      Reply
      • AvatarTee says

        July 17, 2014 at 10:41 pm

        Thanks Dunni…thats what i did. I just did not add the entire stock so it doesnt become watery. My family and guests loved it. Thank you so sooooo much! Your blog is a blessing. It has turned me into a chef..lol

        Reply
        • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

          July 18, 2014 at 11:17 am

          You are welcome Tee. Well done. Happy to help

          Reply
  6. AvatarYomi says

    September 11, 2014 at 11:12 am

    Dear Dunni
    Thank you so much for you blog. I am dying to try more of your recipes as this one worked so well – delicious! I was just wondering what your Jumbo seasoning is and where I can get it. Like you I live in the British bush and getting ingredients is difficult.

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      September 29, 2014 at 12:03 pm

      Hmmn, just use regular Knorr

      Reply
  7. AvatarRochelle says

    April 23, 2015 at 11:48 am

    Hi Dooney,

    i find that when i pre boil the blended tomato mixture my stew ends up with a strong taste of tomatoes i just can’t get rid off. What can i do to stop this from happening ?

    Reply
    • dooneyrooneydooneyrooney says

      April 24, 2015 at 9:09 am

      Hi, you are probably not boiling for long enough or you are using too much tomatoes. have you tried steaming your tomatoes raw before blending?

      Reply

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Hi, my name is Dunni Obata, and I am what you would call the poster child for redefining Nigerian food. Welcome to Dooney's Kitchen, the home of Nigerian centric food, detailed recipes and sharing personal stories. Read more...

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